The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-01-05
The Science OF Sleep.
British Medical journal.


Each successive gradition in sleep is mar
ked by the inclusion of nervous system,
which is for the time being shut off, so to
speak, from participating in the general life
function of the individual until, when the
maximum intensity is attained, nothing is
left but the purely animal-one might almost
say the vegetable-life. Sleep of this degree
OF intensity, although perfectly normal pro-
cess, is not in health, of long duration.
After the lapse of variable space of time,
the systems one by one resume their funct
ions, until finally the sum of the perceptions
brings about the condition of awakening
The brain shares in the need, which is every
where apparent, of periods of rest The
products of cerebral activity accumulate more
rapidly than they are eliminated, and per-
lod therefore arrives when tissues are no Ion
ger able to do their work. The result is an
invincible feeling of disposition to exertion,
physical or mental. The temporary and in.
voluntary cessation of activity is at once fol-
lowed by a dlminntion of the blood supply
the anemia so introduced being, therefore
a consequence, and not a cause, of the state
of repose.
The various parts OF the nervous system
are not all involved simultaneously or to the
same extent. The centers governing volun-
tary movement are the first to be affected, as
ure Of the eyelids, and the body. if not pre-
vented, tends to assume the position of repose
determined by the laws of gravity. The spe-
cial senses soon follow, but here again they
are not abrogated en- masse. Sight is the
first to go, the stimulus no longer reaching
that portion of the cerebrum where it can
give rise to definite sensation, even where
the closure of the lid has not shut off exter-
nal stimuli altogether. Hearing and smell
are remarkabls persistent, and, except in the
the deepest sleep, may be said to be only dull
led, and not extinguished' Every one Is ia
an end to by unascustomed noise, even of
slight intensity, or, better still, by the cessa-
ton OF any monotonous sound, as, for in-
stance, the awakening of travellers by rail or
steamboat on any stoppage of the train or
machinery. Instances are on record too.
where the inhabitants of a house have been
reused simply by the smell of tobacco indul-
ged in by inexperienced or incautious bur-
glars.
The persistent sensibility of these senses
may. to some extent, be accounted for by the
fact that they are not shut off from commune
cation with the outside world as are, for ex-
ample the eyes. To allow sleep, or at any
rate quiet Sleep a certain harmony must ex-
list in the condition of all the organs, which
must, so to speak, be tuned to the the Sleep
ing tone. II one organ be in state of activ-
lty, or. on the other hand, its condition be alb
normal In some other way, the sensorium-
refuses to abdicate its control This Is IA
mlllar TO us in the case of cerebral activity
or cold feet at bed time, both being inimical
to sleep. Inasmuch, therefore, as insomnia
may result from either set of causes we can
either employ drugs, such as opium, which
act directly on the nerve centers and so bring
about sleep, OF we may resort to medicines
like hypnone, which is said to favor sleep
rather than induce it by allaying the irritable
OF nyperesthetlc condition OF certain organs